Huntington Beach Real Estate Facts / How to Buy and Sell

Preparing to Sell Your Huntington Beach Home


Experienced agents know what puts prospective buyers off when they view a home, especially Huntington Beach. For example, when buyers find dirty dishes in the sink, notice offensive pet odors or spot obvious stains suggesting a leaking roof they begin to devalue the property. Some buyers may decide to pass on the house completely while others may think about making an offer way below the asking price. So, a good agent’s first step is to help the homeowner see the house as others will see it and take care of problems.


Guidelines for Buying Huntington Beach


Let’s say everything is a GO! You have found the perfect Huntington Beach home. You know you can afford it and it is actually priced below what you expected to pay. What a bargain! Yes there are bargains to be found in Huntington Beach. At this point it is fine to put in an offer on the property but only with a well-planned contingency. Of course, it the home is going to be financed, the lender will want a Home Inspection before agreeing to lend money on the property. However, you need to protect yourself by making an offer SUBJECT TO a clean bill of health from the Home Inspector of your choice. This kind of a contingency gives you an out if the inspector finds a problem with the roof, or foundation or other structural problem that was not apparent to the seller or to your agent. This does not mean you will not buy the house but you will have a good reason to renegotiate the price with the seller.


Huntington Beach Real Estate Title Insurance


Buying a new home is the single largest financial investment for most families but there are risks. What if the seller doesn’t really own the home? What if there are mortgages, judgements or liens against the property? What if the property taxes have not been paid for several years? Huntington Beach real estate Title insurance protects you against these types of risks and against the risks of human error. It is your basic home ownership protection.

Huntington Beach Title insurance protects you against future losses arising out of events that have happened in the past. Unlike other types of insurance, title insurance is paid when the policy is issued and is good for the life of the policy. The premium required is based on the amount of the sale or the mortgage.


Buying Huntington Beach Real Estate...Will it Pay?


A frequent question from prospective homebuyers relates to building home equity. Huntington Beach buyers like to estimate how much a home may increase in value based upon past appreciation. One of the many advantages of home ownership is that appreciation is based on the home’s market value rather than on the actual dollar amount invested or the down payment so that a $100,000.00 home that appreciates 5% is now worth $105,000.00. This is one way of building your Huntington Beach home equity but there is more you can do.


Does Your Huntington Beach Have Curb Appeal?


Every prospective buyer who visits your Huntington Beach home is struck by a variety of impressions regardless of whether your landscaping is eye-catching or merely so-so. Plants that overrun the walkway, trees that badly need pruning and visible suggest to the prospective buyer that this home will take a lot of landscaping maintenance and yet if your yard is well-maintained, the prospective buyer is inclined to simply admire the fact and move on. If your Huntington Beach front porch or front door need paint, the prospective buyer is likely to notice the paint job inside and out and think about how much maintenance that will take on a yearly basis. The important message here is that things that look bad or run down call attention to all the work that needs to be done while things that are well maintained conjure up ideas of how pleasant it would be to live there.

What Makes Huntington Beach Sell?


People often ask me when is the best time to sell my Huntington Beach? I usually reply that if you want to get the best price for your home, it is wise to give yourself as much time as possible to sell it. However peak selling seasons vary in different areas of the country, and Huntington Beach is no exception, and weather has a lot to do with an area’s peak season. For example, late spring and early fall are the prime listing seasons in many areas because houses tend to show better in those months than they do in the heat of summer. Having said that, houses sell in every season in areas where there is a demand. By demand, I mean a significant number of prospective buyers moving to the area for a variety of reasons.

Charlie Finn
CA DRE Lic # 00672921
charlie.finn@coldwellbanker.com

Phone: (714) 402-9132
Skype: Charlesfinn

1720 PACIFIC COAST HWY # 101  HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA 92648